The senator discussed meaningful U.S. engagement in the region, including Obama's $1 billion aid package for Northern Triangle countries. ... Play Video

After a recent trip to Latin America, U.S. Senator (D-VA) Tim Kaine spoke with COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth about U.S. foreign policy towards the region. Kaine discussed President Barack Obama's $1 billion aid proposal for Northern Triangle countries in Central America and how the package could be most effectively implemented. He warned that if the United States made no investment in the region, it would continue to see waves of unaccompanied minors. "If we make the investment the right way," said Kaine, citing Mexico and Colombia as examples, "then we would have some reason based on experience to believe there would be an outcome that would mean we wouldn't be spending $2.3 billion on the unaccompanied minors."

The senator also talked about the implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership—a free trade agreement under negotiation—for the region, as well as diplomatic relations with Cuba.

"There isn't any reason the twenty-first century couldn't be an Americas century," said Virginia Senator Tim Kaine in a conversation with COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth at Council of the Americas. After a recent trip to Central America, Kaine discussed the region's support for Obama's proposal to spend $1 billion in aid in Northern Triangle countries. According to the senator, it's more cost effective for the United States to invest in the region's security and prosperity rather than spend more on the ramifications of insecurity; he highlighted the 2014 migrant crisis, which cost the United States $2.3 billion. Moreover, improving situations in Colombia and Mexico could serve as examples for the right U.S. initiatives in the region, he added.

Shiftin U.S.-Cuba diplomacy is also an opportunity for greater coordination on the North-South axis. And though the "center of gravity" in Congress is in support of the administration, policy between the two countries may be slow to evolve. "From a congressional standpoint, we will be taking the lead of the State Department," said Kaine. "It's not going to be fast, but it's going to be steady and obvious."

In the launch of Americas Quarterly's Winter 2015 issue, panelists unwrapped the evolving relationship between the United States and Latin America, focusing, in particular, on recent measures towards Cuba and Venezuela. According to Davidson College Professor Russell Crandall, journalist and scholars are still looking at the region through a "residual Cold War lens." On the other hand, new diplomatic relations with Cuba could mean the region is "finally moving towards a post anti-American feeling," he said. Woodrow Wilson's Diana Villiers Negroponte said that U.S. foreign policy has two main drivers—economics and human rights defense—and Obama's recent sanctions on seven Venezuelan officials are an example of the latter. Brown University's Guy Edwards noted that climate change is one policy area the two parties should coordinate on, though North Americans tend to be more skeptical than Latin Americans.

COA's Eric Farnsworth spoke on Al Jazeera's Newshour about Venezuela's relationship with the U.S. in light of President Maduro's request for expanded powers. ... Play Video

COA's Eric Farnsworth spoke on Al Jazeera's Newshour about Venezuela's relationship with the United States in light of President Nicolas Maduro's petition to Congress for expanded powers. Farnsworth highlighted the government's increasingly antagonistic rhetoric toward the United States, which has particularly worsened since President Obama expanded sanctions on certain officials accused of committing human rights abuses. However, while diplomatic relations between the two countries appear to be at their lowest in recent memory, Farnsworth says that the countries' economic connection remains strong: the United States is the top importer of Venezuelan oil.